


The Meaning of Loyalty

by dexstarr



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Community: sortinghatdrabs, Gen, Horcruxes, Loyalty, Slytherin's Locket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 06:37:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11594976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dexstarr/pseuds/dexstarr
Summary: Set duringHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.What Hermione might have felt while wearing Slytherin's locket.





	The Meaning of Loyalty

**Author's Note:**

> _Harry Potter_ is not mine and no profit is made from this work. Written for the LJ community [sortinghatdrabs](http://sortinghatdrabs.livejournal.com/). Week 76: Hermione/Voldemort, Fall.

_“Hermione….”_  
  
She grabbed the pillow from under her head, held it over both ears.  
  
_“Hermione….”_  
  
He always tried to talk to her when she was alone. Which was often these days, now that Ron had abandoned them to their lonely task. Hermione spent her days pouring over  _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_  and Harry stared for hours at the Marauder’s Map, watching Ginny’s dot move about Hogwarts. They went hours, days sometimes, without talking.  
  
_“Hermione, listen to me….”_  
  
She squeezed the locket tightly, as if that would quiet his voice. The sharp edges cut into her fingers, the ‘S’ inlay of emeralds tickled her palm.  
  
_“You know it’s inevitable, Hermione. I am too powerful.”_  
  
A growl sounded low in her throat and Harry turned over in his bunk; she quickly clenched her teeth together to keep from making any more noise. If he knew how Tom Riddle spoke to her, pleaded with her to just listen to him, Harry would never let her wear the locket again.  
  
_“You’re a smart witch, Hermione. You know he cannot stand against me. He is a mere boy and I, I am the greatest wizard who ever lived.”_  
  
His voice was a hissing echo in her head; a cold, charismatic presence twisting sinuously through her mental barriers. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming in frustration and tasted blood.  
  
_“I would value an intelligent girl like you, Hermione. I would appreciate you for your mind, in a way your friends never have.”_  
  
Letting go of the locket, she pressed the pillow more firmly over her ears. It was a futile effort, she knew she couldn’t block out his voice — it was inside her mind — but she had to try.  
  
_“I can give you everything you could ever want, Hermione. Knowledge. Power. Respect. Status.”_  
  
Her mouth opened in a soundless scream, all the muscles in her body tensing as she vented her anger. Riddle was wrong. She already had everything she wanted — or she would, rather, when Voldemort was dead.  
  
_“You don’t have to fall with him, Hermione.”_  
  
Yes, she did. She would either fall or rise with Harry Potter, because she had given him her word, and Hermione Granger understood what loyalty was. Tom Riddle did not.  
  
_Sensing her increased determination, he stopped for the night. He would try again the next time she wore the locket, would curl his desire into pleasing words and insinuate himself into her mind. She couldn’t resist forever: he was Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort, the greatest wizard in the world. He would triumph over the stupid Mudblood, would bring her to her knees before him. Oh yes, she would fall._

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally written in November 2010 and won that week at [sortinghatdrabs](http://sortinghatdrabs.livejournal.com/).
> 
> Come visit me on [tumblr!](http://galacticcoyote.tumblr.com/)


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